Martin Harris Centre Music Online: Ensemble Didgori (Georgian Polyphonies)
04/21/2021
Didgori is one of the most highly respected vocal ensembles in Georgia (Caucasus). Based in the capital Tbilisi, the ensemble is dedicated to the renaissance, safeguarding and promotion of the country’s traditional musical heritage. The singers have a rich and eclectic repertoire that features many different song genres, including feasting songs, work songs, historic songs, laments, chants from the Georgian Orthodox tradition, and more. They are also accomplished exponents of several different regional styles, with their performances of Gurian songs being especially prized: see number 7 in the programme presented here for a virtuosic example. The ensemble appears regularly on concert and festival stages, both in Georgia and overseas, and also chants in one of Tbilisi’s many churches. In 2016 Didgori won the award for best young male ensemble in Georgia’s National Folklore Festival.
Listeners have long been captivated by the distinctive Georgian ‘sound’ with its unusual and sometimes ethereal sounding harmonies and elaborately embroidered melodies. Composer Igor Stravinsky spoke of Georgian multipart singing as ‘a wonderful treasure that can give for performance more than all the attainments of new music’, while ethnomusicologist Izaly Zemtsovsky has dubbed Georgia ‘the Treasure Island of Traditional Polyphony’ on account of the remarkable diversity of forms and styles concentrated in such a compact territory. Didgori’s concert allows listeners to compare (for example) the energetic, fast-paced Gurian style with its trade-mark yodel voice with the Kakhetian style, in which soloists weave highly ornamented melodic lines over a powerful bass drone. In 2001 Georgian Polyphonic Singing featured in UNESCO’s first Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
00:18 შენ ხარ ვენახი – Shen Khar Venakhi (‘You are the Vineyard’). One of the most popular chants (hymns) dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The text dates back to medieval times and is attributed to Demetrius I, King of Georgia from 1125 to 1156. This version is from Shemokmedi Monastery School (each School has its own mode).
02:48 ვახტანგური - Vakhtanguri. A feast song from the region of Samegrelo (western Georgia). 05:50 ადილა ალი ფაშა - Adila Ali Pasha. A historic song from the region of Guria (western Georgia), from the period of the Russian-Turkish war. The singer of the top voice uses the technique known as krimanchuli (Georgian-style yodelling).
07:57 მარებელი - Marebeli. A comic song from Samegrelo about a matchmaker.
11:11 აზარი - Azari. A mourning song from the region of Abkhazia (now occupied by Russia). Traditional Georgian mourning songs (funeral chants) are called Zari. This tradition is still alive in Georgia’s mountainous regions.
14:47 მრავალჟამიერი - Mravalzhamieri. A feast song from the region of Kakheti (eastern Georgia). Mravalzhamieri means ‘many years’ (a rough equivalent to ‘many happy returns’). There are many different versions of this song, found mainly in regions where wine is produced. ‘Mravalzhamieri’ is a song of celebration, typically sung for occasions such as New Year, birthdays, weddings, festivals, and so on.
18:20 ორირა - Orira. A feast song from Guria. Two groups of singers alternate, answering one another with high-octane, virtuosic yodelling.
21:11 ოჰოჰოია ჰარირა - Ohohoia with Harira. A spirited round dance song from Samegrelo.
Listeners have long been captivated by the distinctive Georgian ‘sound’ with its unusual and sometimes ethereal sounding harmonies and elaborately embroidered melodies. Composer Igor Stravinsky spoke of Georgian multipart singing as ‘a wonderful treasure that can give for performance more than all the attainments of new music’, while ethnomusicologist Izaly Zemtsovsky has dubbed Georgia ‘the Treasure Island of Traditional Polyphony’ on account of the remarkable diversity of forms and styles concentrated in such a compact territory. Didgori’s concert allows listeners to compare (for example) the energetic, fast-paced Gurian style with its trade-mark yodel voice with the Kakhetian style, in which soloists weave highly ornamented melodic lines over a powerful bass drone. In 2001 Georgian Polyphonic Singing featured in UNESCO’s first Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
00:18 შენ ხარ ვენახი – Shen Khar Venakhi (‘You are the Vineyard’). One of the most popular chants (hymns) dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The text dates back to medieval times and is attributed to Demetrius I, King of Georgia from 1125 to 1156. This version is from Shemokmedi Monastery School (each School has its own mode).
02:48 ვახტანგური - Vakhtanguri. A feast song from the region of Samegrelo (western Georgia). 05:50 ადილა ალი ფაშა - Adila Ali Pasha. A historic song from the region of Guria (western Georgia), from the period of the Russian-Turkish war. The singer of the top voice uses the technique known as krimanchuli (Georgian-style yodelling).
07:57 მარებელი - Marebeli. A comic song from Samegrelo about a matchmaker.
11:11 აზარი - Azari. A mourning song from the region of Abkhazia (now occupied by Russia). Traditional Georgian mourning songs (funeral chants) are called Zari. This tradition is still alive in Georgia’s mountainous regions.
14:47 მრავალჟამიერი - Mravalzhamieri. A feast song from the region of Kakheti (eastern Georgia). Mravalzhamieri means ‘many years’ (a rough equivalent to ‘many happy returns’). There are many different versions of this song, found mainly in regions where wine is produced. ‘Mravalzhamieri’ is a song of celebration, typically sung for occasions such as New Year, birthdays, weddings, festivals, and so on.
18:20 ორირა - Orira. A feast song from Guria. Two groups of singers alternate, answering one another with high-octane, virtuosic yodelling.
21:11 ოჰოჰოია ჰარირა - Ohohoia with Harira. A spirited round dance song from Samegrelo.